PHNOM PENH, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The number of road fatalities in Cambodia declined to 1,590 people in 2023, a decrease of 7 percent from 1,709 in the year before, said a report by the National Police on Thursday.
Besides death toll, the accidents injured 4,515 others in 2023, up 12 percent from 4,026 in a year earlier, the report added.
The Southeast Asian country recorded 3,317 cases of road crashes in 2023, also up 11 percent from 2,976 cases in 2022, the report said.
"Forty-one percent of the accidents were caused by speeding, 22 percent by failing to adhere to traffic rules, 9 percent by not respecting the right of way, 9 percent by careless turning, 7 percent by reckless overtaking, as 12 percent were due to vehicle factors, driving under the influence of alcohol, and drowsy driving, among others," the report said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Sokha has said road traffic accidents killed at least four persons and injure 12 others every day in the kingdom.
"Eighty percent of the dead were motorcyclists, and 73 percent of them were unhelmeted," he said in a public speech in late December.
Road traffic accidents are the leading cause of deaths and injuries in Cambodia, costing the country about 466 million U.S. dollars a year, according to a report jointly conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Cambodia and the National Road Safety Committee. ■